Lens.



L. L.'ROWE..

LENS. APPLICATION FILED IUIY 12.1916,

Patented 0013.12, 1917.

LEVI LEROY now, or Eos'roN, m'AssacHusE'r'rs.

LENS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented 0ct.2,'1917.

Application filed July 12, 1916. Serial Ho. 108,927.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEVI LEROY How, of

Boston, in the county of Suffolk and Stateof Massachusetts, a citizen of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lenses, of which the following is a specification.

. My invention relates to that type of lens ordinarily used in the head lights of motor vehicles. The invention has for its object the providing of a lens which not only eliminates the blinding glare of the ordinary spotlight hitherto used on such vehicles and which is at present contrary to law but also diffuses the light upon the highway both directly in front of and to either side of the machine. It is a well known fact that, by

reason of the powerful electric lights combined with a strong reflector commonly used in modern automobiles, dangerous situations frequently occur due to the blinding glare caused by these .lights and as a result frequent accidents have occurred to edestrians, operators and drivers of horseawn vehicles. The same has been true in connection with street cars in the outlying districts which are usually equipped with search lights for use on darkened suburban roads.

To remedy this dimmers were first emplo ed, various laws having been passed in difl erent communities. The result was to cause practically the same dangerous situation at the other extreme, the dimmers either causing insufficient light or affecting the lights in such a way that the light was thrown directly before the car and not far enough ahead and not at all to either side of the machine. This bein therefore found ineffective various other evices have been used to tone down the lights, and further ordinances havebeen passed in this respect. With these facts in mind and further having in mind the fact that the majority-of ordinances provide for a strong light w ch shall not however be dazzling at a certain height a certain distance in front of the machine and must yet be thrown to either side of the -machine, I have invented the present device of which the following is the specification.

My invention will best be understood with reference to the drawin in which Figure 1 is a plan view of the inside of the lens and Eig. 2 is a cross section on the line 2-2 of F' One face of th number of recessed .or indented portions or figures B arran ed in rows as shown in Fig. 1. The size of t e lens can be varied accordmg to the number of these portions or figuresused. While the form of these indented portlons or figures may vary, as shown each is rectangular,in shape, the sides or faces I) of the portions or figures B inclining inwardl to a central fiat portion or face 6 In ot or words, each of the portions or figures B is of the inverted shape of the frustum of a pyramid, and the flat parts or faces Z? of the several portions or fi es B form part of the flat front face of t e lens, or the face thereof opposite the indented figured'face. Asa result of this construction, the rays of light are thrown off from the reflector through the various faces at different angles according to well known laws of physics. Instead of a blinding glare in one spot a soft, mellow yet bri ht and enetrating light 18 obtained bot direct y in front of and to some distance on either side of the machine. The flat center portions 12 tend to throw rays to the front, while the inclined sides I) shoot the rays to all sides and tend to cooperate with the parts 6 to blend and intensify the center rays. Thus the action of the lens as a whole is to reflect the rays equally in all directions causing a bright light which however will not blind one approaching.

It is obviousthat my device may be constructed in various ways but I prefer to make my lensf'out of one piece, the glass being pressed in a mold into proper shape. It is possible to construct each of the portions separately leaving a flat surface between each portion thus having a further flat surface tointensify the direct rays.

What I claim is 1. A lens having one flat face and an opposite indented face composed of recessed portions or figures arran ed in rows and each of which has inwar y inclined sides and a flat inner central part or surface.

2. A lens having one flat face and an opposite indented face composed of recessed rectangular portions or figures arranged in rows and each of which has four equal, in-

1. j e lens A is composed of a wardly inclined sides and a flat inner central part or surface, sald portions or figures bein thus of the inverted shape of the frusfsum 0 a pyramid.

3. Alens' formed of a' single piece of glass and having one flat face and a'nopposibe'-i'n-'" dented face composed of recessed rectangupyramid.

la-r portions or figures arranged in rows and each of which has four equal, inwardly in clined. sides and a flat inner centralpart or A surface, said portions or figures being thus o'flheinverted shape of the frustum of a LEVI LEROY ROWE. 

